New Year, New You?
What do you think when you hear of people making a “New Year’s Resolution?” To me, I enjoy the idea of a person having a desire to make a change that will make themselves better. They are taking time to reevaluate if the path they are on is the one they want to be taking. They also acknowledge the need to improve and are trying to do something about it. Sadly, New Year’s resolutions are often short lived. For various reasons they don’t seem to last more than a short time. The need for change that once motivated a person to try and change a bad habit or two, slowly disappears and people fall back into their old habits.
In Romans, Paul writes, “But God shows His love for us in that while we were still sinners, Christ died for us.” What seems like a simple verse is packed with so much. Doesn’t the start of the verse, “But God shows His love for us”, make you feel so important? Even though we feel like we need to make a resolution to change the person we are, God still loves us. The verse even points out that we need a change. “While we were still sinners” clearly points out that sin is what has caused us to need to change. Like most people who make resolutions, we fail. We think we can make a big change in who we are by changing a couple bad habits, but sin follows us just waiting for the perfect opportunity to get us again. Its why we need help. We just can’t do it alone. But the finish of this verse is where the more glorious change happens. “Christ died for us” to save us from our failure. In other words, we are saved from our sin and the powers of the devil because Jesus’ sacrifice, not because any change we make. We are reconciled to God through Christ.
One of the great things about our God is that He doesn’t need to make resolutions. Hebrews 13:8 points out, “Jesus Christ is the same yesterday, today and forever.” Did you catch that? Jesus doesn’t need to make any changes! He withstood the temptations of this world and remained perfect so that we might be changed from our sinful self to someone covered in Christ. Will you join me in rejoicing in the glory of our unchanging God? Let’s praise our God that has begun a good work in us and will carry it to completion until the day of Christ Jesus.
Prayer: “Heavenly Father, please forgive our sins. Thank you for loving us so much to come to earth and die on the cross so that we can experience the change that only you can make in us. Thank you for the undeserved salvation you give us through the death and resurrection of your Son. Amen”
Written by: Daniel Cattau, Faith Middle School & High School, Las Vegas, NV